Hebrews 11

— and by it he being dead yet speaketh.] That is, he dechtheth by his faith, that God is a rewarder of the righteous, though they are persecuted even to death for their righteousness. Drs. Whitby and Wells.

— to be called their God:] Still, after their decease. See Exod. iii. 6; Matt. xxii. 32; our Saviour’s argument for the resurrection. Bp. Fell.

— escaped the edge of the sword.] As Moses that of Pharaoh, Exod. xviii. 4; David that of Goliath, and of Saul; Elijah, that of Jezebel. Dr. Macknight, Bp. Hall.

— out of weakness were made strong.] That is, recovered from desperate sicknesses after some extraordinary method, as Job and Hezekiah; or performed actions above their natural strength and power, as Gideon, Judg. vii. 15; Samson, Judg. xvi. 28; Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xx. 12; Jonathan, 1 Sam. xiv. 12. Drs. Wells and Whitby.

— turned to flight the armies of the aliens.] That is, of the heathen Canaanites. Dr. Hammond.

Hebrews 11:5

5. By faith Enoch was translated] Moses, by telling us (Gen. v. 22) that “Enoch walked with God,” shews us that his faith consisted in an habitual recollection of the being and perfections of God, and in a constant sense of the Divine presence. Dr. Macknight.

— before his translation he had this testimony, &c.] Preceding tokens were given of God’s favourable regards to him; and that character is expressed by the sacred historian, when it is said that “Enoch walked with God.” Dr. Doddridge.

Hebrews 11:6

6. But without faith it is impossible to please him: &c.] And indeed nothing is plainer, than that a firm persuasion of the existence of God, though He be invisible to us, and a lively hope and assurance, proportionable to the knowledge men have of His nature and will, that He will reward all His true worshippers, though that reward be future and at a distance, is the first and most necessary principle of all true religion. Pyle.

Hebrews 11:7

7. — by the which he condemned the world, &c.] By which example of his obedience and faith he condemned the unbelief and obstinacy of the world; and shewed, by his preservation, that the world did justly perish, for not being warned by him; whose word if they had obeyed, they had escaped that destruction. Bp. Hall.

— became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.] That is, of the happiness promised to them who are justified by faith, or to persons who by faith had an hereditary right to it; namely, not only to the temporal salvation which the ark afforded, but to that spiritual and celestial, which the ark typified, 1 Pet. iii. 21. Dr. Whitby.

Hebrews 11:9

9. — dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob.] See Gen. xii. 8; xiii. 3, 12, 18; “Then Abram removed his tent.” The Apostle does not mean, that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, dwelt together in one family

and one place, all the time they were in Canaan; for at the time Jacob was born, Abraham and Isaac had separate habitations. But he means that, while in Canaan, they all dwelt in tents. By applying this observation to Isaac and Jacob, as well as to Abraham, the Apostle praises their faith likewise. For since Canaan belonged to them as joint heirs with their father, by dwelling there in tents as sojourners, they shewed, that they also knew the true meaning of the promise, and looked for a better country than Canaan. Dr. Macknight.

Hebrews 11:10

10. — a city which hath foundations.] Namely, a settled, quiet habitation in heaven; in opposition to tents and tabernacles, which had no foundation, but were moveable dwellings, supported only by stakes and cords. Burkitt.

Hebrews 11:11

11. Through faith also Sara herself] Though at first she laughed distrustfully, recollecting herself, “received strength to conceive.” Bp. Hall.

There was something particular in the case of Abraham, and of his descendants likewise, till their settlement in the land of Canaan: for these, having no fixed abode, were, in the strictest sense of the word, “pilgrims.” This circumstance the more eminent amongst them improved to the best advantage, by acting agreeably to it; by weaning themselves from the world; by fixing their chief thoughts on a better; and directing their aims to that state of happiness, which God intended for them hereafter. But whatever particularity there may have been in the case of the good men here referred to, yet there is enough of a similar kind in the condition of every man living, to shew that this expression may be considered as a representation of human life. We also “are strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Though in the common account of things we may be thought settled, as having possessions insured to us by the strongest worldly insurances, yet even these are upon many accounts precarious: the real enjoyment and taste of them at least must be so; and the tenure itself being short, we must give way to some new possessors. All the reflections therefore, which the good Patriarchs formerly made, may be as properly

Hebrews 11:14

14. For they that say such things &c.] And this language of theirs, calling themselves sojourners in Canaan, and not possessors of it, signifies that they did not think themselves at home, but that they were in pursuit of a country. Dr. Hammond. Namely, a country of their fathers, their native and proper home. So heaven is the proper country or habitation of good men, the place where God, their Father, dwells. Pyle.

Whosoever declareth himself a stranger, saith the author of this Epistle, declareth that he hath a home; for a stranger is one who is absent from home. When therefore the Patriarchs confess themselves strangers in the land of promise, strangers and sojourners in the earth, they intimate that they have a country, in which they hope to settle: and what place can that be but heaven? “They that say such things declare plainly, that they seek a better country, that is, an heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city.” Good men in the Old Testament, and Christians in the New, are represented as strangers and sojourners in a foreign country. Christians are said not to be of this world, to have no continuing city here, but to seek one to come: to have their conversation, that is their citizenship, in heaven; to be members of the heavenly society; and they are exhorted to pass the time of their sojourning in pious fear. The religion which we profess bids us look upon ourselves as strangers here below. We are, or we should be, the servants of Christ. His kingdom is not of this world: He hath promised us no honours and certain possessions here: He reigns with His Father, and hath told us, that where He is there shall we be also. Whilst we are here we are absent from our Master, from our home, from those abodes where only we have a promise to find rest and happiness. The inference is obvious; that since we are strangers and sojourners for a few days, in a world for the most part unkind and deceitful to its worthiest inhabitants, where sin, and folly, and trouble abound; and since we have the prospect of a better country, to which, if it be not our own fault, we shall have access; we ought to entertain inclinations and views suitable to our conditions, and to use the present, so as to secure the future: that is, in few words, we ought to live virtuously and religiously, not too much dejected under disappointments and afflictions, nor proud and overpleased at temporal advantages; ready to resign with decency and good temper what else we must resign unwillingly, and not dependent upon those things on which our eternal happiness depends not. Dr. Jorlin.

Hebrews 11:15

15. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, &c.] The Apostle does not mean a bare remembrance of that country, but a wishful remembrance, or a longing after it. Such a longing none of these pious men ever indulged. Abraham in particular considered the very thought of returning into Chaldea as a renunciation of his interest in the promises of God. And therefore, he made his steward Eliezer swear, that on no pretence whatever he would carry Isaac into Chaldea, Gen. xxiv. 5, 8. This absolute renunciation of Chaldea, notwithstanding God

Hebrews 11:16

16. But now they desire a better country, &c.] But accounting themselves strangers both in Chaldea and in Canaan, they raised up their hearts to the desire of a better country, that is, an heavenly; and God respected them accordingly. Bp. Hall.

With regard to temporal things, the servants of God in all ages were instructed to look upon the world, and they actually did look upon it, as we do, or should do, now. Upon a principle of faith in God’s promise, they who were called out of Egypt under Moses, set out upon a progress towards a land, which they had never seen and knew only by report, with many difficulties and terrours to encounter by the way; so that the history of their journey is an instructive picture of all the trials and dangers of the Christian life: and when they were settled in the land of promise, their business was not to give themselves up to the enjoyment of the world, but to serve God in holiness and righteousness, and still to depend upon Him for their support and defence against their enemies. The greatest favourites of Heaven, who had the best title to inherit the earth, considered this life only as a pilgrimage towards a better. Abraham “sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country,” where he was not at home; and “dwelt in tabernacles,” to signify that he had no fixed habitation upon earth, but “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Jacob underwent a series of disappointments and sorrows; and towards the close of his life, confessed that his days had been “few and evil.” Moses preferred “the reproach of Christ” to “the treasures of Egypt.” And the saints and prophets, who came after him, were ready on all occasions to renounce the world in the spirit of martyrdom: they suffered all the contempt and persecution the world could inflict upon them in the trial of their faith, and “ran with patience the race that was set before them,” choosing death itself through the hope of a “better resurrection;” whence the saints of the law are celebrated and set forth as examples of faith and patience to the saints of the Gospel. How unaccountable therefore has been the error of some moderns, who have contended that the law gave no notice of a future life, and that the Jews were taught to look for nothing under it but temporal rewards: a doctrine so false in itself, so injurious to the word of God, and so contrary to the preaching of Christ and His Apostles, that it is condemned in the Articles of the Church of England: the seventh of which affirms, as it ought to do, and as we have sufficiently proved already, that “the Old Testament is not contrary to the New; for both in the Old and New Testament, everlasting life is offered to mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator between God and man, being both God and man. Wherefore they are not to be heard which feign, that the old Fathers did look only for transitory promises.” To shew that they had a better hope, and that their faith was the same as ours, though their worship was of a different form, is the whole design of the Epistle to the Hebrews, where the Christian doctrines are all deduced from the Old Testament. James of Nayland.

set forth in the examples of many excellent persons of old time.

Anas DOMINI 64. was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

Or, Ye. 18 || Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

Hebrews 11:17

17. By faith Abraham, — offered up Isaac:] He was ready to sacrifice him. Pyle. And so, in the esteem of God, who takes the will for the deed, he did the same as if he had actually offered him up. Dr. Wells.

Hebrews 11:20

20. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau &c.] Giving the higher blessing to the younger brother. Bp. Fell. Here the Apostle discovers a fact, which may be also gathered from the circumstances of the history; namely, that in blessing his two sons, Isaac was moved by a Divine impulse. Dr. Macknight.

Hebrews 11:26

26. — the reproach of Christ] That reproach, which he together with God’s people suffered, in and for the expectation of Christ, whom he foresaw to come. Bp. Hall. Jesus Christ, then the Head also, and, some think, the personal conductor, of the church in the wilderness. See Exod. xxiii. 21; Acts vii. 38; 1 Cor. x. 9; Exod. xvii. 7. Always the same, Heb. xiii. 8; Rev. i. 4; In the Prophets’ time, 1 Pet. i. 11; In and before the time of Abraham, John viii. 58, who saw His day and was glad; In Noah’s time, 1 Pet. ii. 19; In the beginning of time, by whom God made the worlds, Heb. i. 10; Before all worlds, John xvii. 6. Bp. Fell.

The reproach of the Israelites seems to me to be called “the reproach of Christ,” not only for the similitude between it, and that which Christ afterwards suffered, or because it was a type thereof; but also and chiefly, because that people was the people of Christ, and so their reproach His. The people of Christ, I say, they were, whom Christ took into His singular favour and tuition:

Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Hebrews 11:33

33. — subdued kingdoms,] As Joshua and David. Bp. Hall.

— wrought righteousness,] As Abraham and Phinehas, Gen. xv. 6; Ps. cvi. 30, 31. Or, turned the people from idolatry into the way of righteousness, as Samuel and Elijah, 1 Sam. xii; 1 Kings xviii. 39. Dr. Whitby. Or, carried themselves justly in their government, as Samuel and David. Bp. Hall.

— obtained promises,] As Abraham, of a son; Caleb and Joshua, of the promised land; Gideon and Jephthah, of victories. Bp. Hall. Phinehas, of the everlasting priesthood; David, first of the kingdom, and then of the Messiah. Dr. Macknight.

— stopped the mouths of lions,] As Samson, and as Daniel. Bp. Hall.

Hebrews 11:34

34. Quenched the violence of fire,] Not being so much

Hebrews 11:35

35. Women received their dead raised to life again.] As the widow of Zarephath, 1 Kings xvii. 20; and the Shunamitish woman, 2 Kings iv. 36. Dr. Hammond.

— not accepting deliverance.] As Eleazar and the Maccabean brothers, that, dying for God’s cause, they might be partakers of a happy resurrection to eternal life, 2 Macc. vi, vii. Bp. Hall.

Hebrews 11:36

36. — mockings and scourgings, &c.] Isaac was mocked by Ishmael, and Elisha by the children from Bethel. See also 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16; and 2 Macc. vii. 7, 10. Jeremiah was beaten by Pashur, Jer. xx. 2; and by the princes, Jer. xxxvii. 15. Scourging in the synagogue was a very common punishment. See 2 Macc. vi. 30; vii. 1, 37. Joseph, Samson, Jeremiah, and Micaiah were imprisoned. Drs. Macknight and Whitby.

Hebrews 11:37

37. They were stoned.] As Zechariah, 2 Chron. xxiv. 21; “they were sawn asunder,” as Isaiah, by Manasseh. Dr. Whitby.

— were tempted.] To renounce the true worship of God after other extraordinary ways. Dr. Wells. This may particularly allude to the temptation of present ease and prosperity offered to such as would be guilty of sinful compliances, instead of the torments and death they were immediately to suffer, if they persevered in their duty. See Dan. iii. 14, &c.; vi. 10, &c.; 2 Macc. vi. 21, &c.; vii. 24. Parkhurst.

— were slain with the sword.] See 1 Sam. xxii. 18; 1 Kings xix. 10. Dr. Macknight. 1 Macc. ii. 38. Dr. Whitby.

— in sheepskins and goatskins.] The ancient Prophets commonly went about in such garments, being mortified to all the luxuries of life. Dr. Macknight. See 2 Kings i. 8.

Hebrews 11:38

38. — in dens and caves of the earth.] As Elijah; and the hundred Prophets hid by Obadiah; and David, 1 Sam. xxiv. 3. Dr. Macknight.

Hebrews 11:39

39. — received not the promise.] That is, the actual accomplishment of the promise. Burkitt. Namely, the promise of “an heavenly country,” ver. 15, 16; the

slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

Hebrews 11:40

40. God having provided some better thing for us.] And so deferring the completion of that promise, till we also should be made partakers of it. Dr. Whitby.

It being the good pleasure and wise appointment of God to defer that till the perfect and complete revelation of the Gospel were made to us Christians, and the last and great dispensation of the Messiah be past: that so both they, Patriarchs, Prophets, and Apostles, and all sincere Christians, whether Jewish or Gentile ones, may, for the courageous exercise of the same excellent and virtuous principle, be all rewarded and crowned together, with the happiness both of body and soul, at the final day of judgment. Pyle.

To encourage us in our Christian warfare, the Apostle in this chapter sets before us at large the examples of the saints of old, who were all saved by leading a life of faith; enduring every trial, and conquering every enemy, on this great principle. There never was any other way of salvation from the beginning of the world, but this of faith. All the saints of God who found acceptance with Him depended upon His word and promise for such things as they could not see; and either forsook the pleasures of the world, or contradicted its erreurs, and endured its reproaches, for His sake. We may plead the business of life, and the cares of life; but they had their business and their cares as well as we: yet they loved God, and made it their first care to be saved. The race we are to run may have its difficulties: indeed if it is a race, it cannot be without them: but we are “encompassed with a cloud of witnesses,” chap. xii. 1, all testifying that this race may be run, and the prize obtained; because they did actually perform it, and are entitled to the crown of victory. What hinders us from doing the same, but that we are retarded by some “weight,” which we are not careful to divest ourselves of, and “lay aside?” We do not strive against that sin, whatever it be, which most easily besets us, and is never to be subdued but by faith, and prayer, and self-denial: faith in better things than this world can bestow; and prayer for that grace which may assist us in doing what our strength will never accomplish. Jones of Nayland.

A strong argument to prove that works are a necessary condition of our justification may be deduced from the examples of holy men of old, who were so justified. Of these illustrious worthies we have a long list in this eleventh chapter to the Hebrews. Here let us learn what justifying faith is, by seeing what it was and what it did in those heroes of the ancient church, proposed to us by the Apostle for our imitation. By faith Abel